TwentyTen

Hey CL,

I have a BatCap 300 ( 1/2 battery 1/2 Capacitor) about to go in the trunk. I have fuses and inline fuse holders but Batcap recommends a 100 amp circuit breaker. What is the difference? Dont they both stop the current from frying your components? I have an 80A fuse running from the battery to the amps via 4AWG wire and will be adding the BATCAP to the 1800W sub amp with 4AWG wire.

The reason I am asking is because I already have fuses left over from previous installs. My audio is completely disconnected from the Optima under the hood right now (i.e. I have no sound in the car aside from my humming). Will it be safe to add the BATCAP without any fuse or circuit breaker?

any and all feedback is GREATLY appreciated!

//Darius

Abear

iTrader: (1)

I have a 180 amp fuse going to my amp. I would say just upgrade the 80 amp fuse to 120-180 and you should be ok.

vin 78

You could use either one - they both protect your car.

TwentyTen

Thanks Abear, Thanks Vin! Now I can just use the fuses I already have.

//Darius

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Darius,
The diff between a fuse & ckt breaker is its series resistance. In the case of a fuse, the fusing element is actually the thing that breaks the circuit, so it can't be too heavy/thick, or it won't do its job. This means that its resistance might be higher than it could be, since the resistance of the skinny part of the fuse has to have a high enough resistance to cause enough heat to melt the wire when the current is high. In the case of a circuit breaker, it is more like a switch - low resistance direct connection. The circuit is broken by an electro-magnetic current sensing device, which opens the switch when there is too much current.

It is actually BAD to fuse your cap for the above reasons. There should ONLY be ONE fuse or breaker, within 18" of the battery. It is not necessary to put another fuse/brkr at the cap or batcap. The first fuse/brkr will blow if there is overcurrent, preventing the wiring and car from frying.

I violated this rule in my car for a specific reason: I put an 80 amp fuse at my cap in the trunk, even though I have a 100A circuit breaker at the battery. WHY, you ask???? To protect my hearing. I thought that if I was pulling 80 amps of continuous current, the system was too loud for my own good. To date, I've only blown that 80A fuse once, right before an SPL contest at a local SLAP show. I was trying to see how much I could get out of the system, and poof!!!
I still have my ears.

Jerry

350g

I'm a huge fan of circuit breakers for their ease of use . . . need to disable the power? Push a freakin' button However, after witnessing a few occasions of melted fuse holders, I am a firm believer in circuit breakers. Grant it, the vehicles that melted the fuse holders were owned by younger people tampering with the gains and had no clue, but that's not the point. Basically what happened is that the metal within the fuse snapped at the end (rather than the middle) causing the metal to fall to the edge. It still powered the system, but inadvertently melted the fuse holder. Not good . . . Grant it, its rare, but still a possibility.

kratos

^^ I have experienced the complete opposite. I have personally witnessed 200 amp circuit breakers melt down before snapping under continuous load. I have seen this on a cheaper Raptor brand CB and a quality Phoenix Gold CB. Pretty scary stuff. They work great under a short-circuit situation but under heavy loads they like to heat up before they snap. Melting = bad.

For those reasons I now run an AGU or ANL fuse holder at the battery for all of my installs.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

It is widely known that a fuse is a wee bit safer than a circuit breaker. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that a fuse can melt and still keep the circuit connected, because it will more likely melt AGAIN. The odds of a circuit breaker malfunctioning are higher.